Opel Announces Plan To Build Mokka In Spain Beginning 2014

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The rumors were true, as Opel has officially announced plans to expand production of the Mokka crossover to the General Motors’ plant in Zaragoza, Spain — which will begin churning out the little crossovers by the second-half of 2014. At the same time, the Mokka will still be made at Bupyeong, South Korea.

According to WardsAuto, Opel will invest a total of €200 million ($256 million) to produce the model in Zaragoza. In the initial phase, $80 million USD will be invested in the plant for production, with the decision to produce the Mokka at the facility helping to safeguard 5,800 jobs at the Spanish plant, which currently produces the Corsa and Meriva.

Stampings have to be built and installed, workers have to be selected and trained, sources for various systems and raw materials have to be found, transportation has to be arranged, local authority approvals have to be sought and obtained, local customs understood and be respected, so on, so forth. It’s not easy. Or cheap.

“While the initial European production will be based on CKD-kits (CKD = Completely Knocked Down), with parts coming from Korea, localization will gradually increase.”

“Completely Knocked Down” means that the whole car comes in all its individual parts (more or less in sub-assemblies) from Korea to Figuerelas (Zaragoza), so no stamping is done locally. No raw materials have to be found locally. This is only needed while “localization will gradually increase.”

There are 5800 well trained workers in the GM plant in Figueruelas. They know how to build cars.

What “local authority approvals” do you expect to be needed in addition to everything the plant needed all those many years it is in existence and working? Did you note that the president of the Spanish government and his minister for industry, and the president of the Aragon regional government have been present at the ceremony of this public announcement?

What kind of local customs do you think have to be respeced different from what the GM/Opel plant is doing all those years it is working there?

The Opel/Vauxhall Mokka is homolgated for all pertinent markets in Europe and far beyond.

As to the transportation — there are many ships idle currently on the seven seas.

What really might possibly be needed is space at the plant for this assembly line for the CKD Mokka.

It might also be a challenge for the Bupeyong plant in Korea to produce those CKD kits; but … how are the Buick Encore built in China? Completely with stamping and all, or maybe also from CKD kits? I don’t know.

I wonder if this time frame isn’t a GM problem, while other manufacturers would take considerably less time to get production going elsewhere. GM is coming along, but this situation may be one of those signs that it takes many years to change the way a huge corporation operates and become more efficient.